Granted this was not that brave of a call, but nevertheless from July 20:

Back in the depths of WWI, the Germans woke up one day and found that their erstwhile ally Austria-Hungary, to whom they had given that famous blank check in the madness that led up to the war, was completely incompetent. Worse than incompetent, in fact, because Germany had to keep sending troops to bail them out of various military fixes, an oddly similar situation to what Hitler found himself doing with Italy in the next war. ... Anyway, Germans soon began to wonder if they were "shackled to a dead man."

I am reminded of that phrase as I see that the Republicans have officially nominated Donald Trump for the presidency, perhaps the worst choice the party has made in its history, Nixon included. I don't think "shackled to a dead man" is quite right. I think that "shackled to a suicide bomber" is more apt. Trump is not only going to lose big in this election to an incredibly weak Democratic candidate, but he is also going to kill the Republicans in the House and Senate and any number of down-ballot elections.

J K Brown:

Hey, it's not like "Make America Great Again" was some wild-eyed idea for a campaign. The other Republicans, for the last 8 years, could have taken up that theme, but they weren't that creative or open-minded. Hell, someone like Ted Cruz could have stole it from Trump, but no, he didn't.

So we ended up with Trump, whose redeeming value is, he is not Hillary Clinton, but he is the only individual in the whole world who stands between Hillary and the Oval Office.

So here's the deal, we don't get to win. We get to make the choice that will leave something to salvage for the youngsters, who right now, are to stupid to know what they are about to lose if they vote for Hillary.

Not Sure:

"the youngsters, who right now, are to stupid to know what they are about to lose if they vote for Hillary."

They'll no doubt be happy to get their free college education. It will only be later, when they're older and paying for the "free" college education that the next generation will be expecting (read: demanding), unable to afford to save for their old age and having to hope that the pittance that is social security might even be available to them, that they will realize (or not) what their vote, all those years ago, meant.

You can make a much stronger argument that Hitlary is the suicide bomber, as the wikileaks emails clearly show (and invite multiple areas of inquiry, should someone at DOJ suddenly remember their job).

Does WM write this because his prediction is more plausible than before? I would say the claim is an implausible than ever. I say this as a hypnotized reader of Scott Adams. I think WM and Scott Adams should make arrangements to meet on the day after election day. They can each write an article on the results of the election. Both articles should be fascinating.

CapitalistRoader:

Trump's done the Republican Party a favor. Four years ago voters saw the fundamentally competent and decent candidate Romney vilified as fascist, realized that the mainstream media was acting as an arm of the Democratic Party, and decided to nominate an outrageous candidate, someone who turned the Dem's and the media on themselves. It almost worked. Any other GOP candidate would have been tarred with the fascist brush too and with similar results. The notion that a more establishment or even libertarian GOP candidate would have had an easier time is wrong.

So what's next? Firebrand populists on the left and the right will start popping up, jockeying for position, gaining power. But they'll be young. Young people in the mold of Charles Lindbergh, Father Charles Coughlin, Huey Long. All railing against the grossly corrupt Clinton administration.

CapnRusty:

Sure. The Tea Party believed that by getting Republican majorities in the House in 2010 and then the Senate in 2014, that the Obama train wreck could be derailed. Silly them. What could possibly make you think that keeping a Republican majority in 2016 would do anything to stop Hillary from ruling by executive order?

CapnRusty:

Nehemiah:

I don't think many people understand what is going on with this election. The people are going to vote for Trump, not because of who he is, but who he isn't. He is not Clinton, he is not Romney, he is not McCain and he is not Ryan. The folks want to give the Washington-NYC establishment (Rino's, Progressives and the media) the middle finger. The analogy that Trump is a suicide bomber is only partially correct. He is a bomber, he is the people's bomber and Washington DC will never be the same once he gets there. Not claiming it will be better, but it will certainly be different. It will blow the republican party up beyond recognition whether Trump wins or loses and that will be a good thing.

As for the argument of protecting down ballot? What has been accomplished with a republican senate and house? Having given the establishment republicans the house and senate how did they thank their constituents, zero, zip, nada. And then they tried to foist Jeb on us. Had they been more agile they would have marshaled forces behind Ted Cruz who had some of the anti-establishment sentiment on his side. Now the country is stuck with Trump for better or worse.

I heard this analogy online somewhere. Trump is like a 6-shooter revolver with 3 chambers loaded. Hillary is like a 9MM semi-automatic fully loaded and chambered. You must pick up one of the pistols, point it at your head and pull the trigger. I'll take my 50/50 chances with the revolver.

Nehemiah:

They will certainly attempt to get back to business as usual, but one huge factor will mitigate against them. Whereas Constitutional conservatives like myself will try to build bridges with the establishment in order to weather the Clinton storms. The hard core Trump supporters will be out for the blood of any establishment republican that attempted to undermine Trump. There is a lot of energy in this movement. It won't dissipate easily with a Clinton win. And I'm not so sure that the traditional polling methodologies are capturing the new voters brought into the election by Trump. Do their "likely voter" databases properly reflect this variable? And today we have a poll out that shows Trump and Hillary tied again (nationally). As flawed as Trump is, Hillary is hated for her lies and her self-dealing corruption while in office.

Trump once said he could shoot someone in Times Square and his people would still follow him. I didn't believe him then, but now I'm not so sure.

TruthisaPeskyThing:

I agree with you analysis that the voters for Trump -- and they will be tens of millions -- want to give the "Establishment" the finger, and I agree that much of the Establishment should be overthrown. However, this group of people fool themselves; they are not the majority. They need to build bridges to flexible groups who can give them the majority. There have been times in the past three months where it seemed like those bridges were forming -- perhaps mainly because so many people realize how bad Hillary is -- but Trump has been able to undermine and blow up most of those bridges.
I am reminded of the Native American fable where the snake tells the teen as he bites him: "You knew who I was before you picked me up."

TruthisaPeskyThing:

Matthew Slyfield:

marque2:

Polls are actually closing up again, with some showing Trump ahead. The anonymous women, the Times is reporting about show a real double standard as well- as in when Bill was running these affairs were poo-pooed and covered up. Maybe, just maybe folks will begin to understand what an evil cabal the Democrats and Media have become.

We all see the debates where Trump has to debate both the opponent and the moderators. Romney only got the one false fact check.

But then it could be a pipe dream. I am not sure the lure of real higher paying jobs will outweigh the lure of "free" stuff.

What's your point? That populists and mainstream politicians of both parties had prejudices common for the day? What on earth does that have to do with today's populists Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, or future populist leaders that who will arise as a result of a Hillary Clinton idiocracy?

marque2:

We have tried the building bridges, and what we get is a party that talks "conservative" to constituents and then behind closed doors gives the opposition whatever they want, because they really agree with the opposition. Look at Paul Ryan as an example, globalist, let illegals in to milk Wisconsin cows (like he said last week) gave Obama everything he wanted - it is awful. I think the next step is to destroy the Republican party and build something out of the ashes. Unfortunately we we will lose some rights in the process. Right to arms, free speech rights - I am pretty sure a Hillary court would approve, offense codes like they have in college. We will be stuck "cooling the earth" at the start of an ice age ...

tex:

I frequently speak to a 21 yr old Cuban Immigrant who arrived here 7 years ago & with family members still in Cuba. I asked her how happy people were with free college educations. She replied, “People don't care that much about it because there are no jobs for them when they graduate.” Both of her parents have Cuban Mining Engineering degrees, but before coming here, they quit working as Gov mining engineers because they made more money self-employed: Her dad making tourist crafts & trinkets & Her mom baking goods for sale. Both were breaking the law but thought it worth the risk for the extra income over gov engineering.

tex:

I posted this elsewhere:

Hillary will most likely be our overlord weaponizing both the IRS & the Court to persecute & prosecute to submission. Obama’s IRS delayed opposition 501c’s for years. Hillary’s IRS will forever or reject them out of hand.

The Establishment tells us the great divide is between Liberals wanting a socialist utopia & Conservatives wanting limited gov & a constitutional republic. Bush put a lie to the latter & the mobilization of Wall Street to block Trump puts the lie to the former. Progressive like Bernie Sanders are now outsiders on the Left.

Among the Establishment there is no divide. The Republican Establishment says:

“Trump responds to criticism with the petulance of verbal spit wads.
That’s beneath our national dignity.”

“Our dignity” is not speaking to you. You are not “our” & you better get that through your thick head.

The Establishment is unanimous, they consider the rest of us revolting.

Increasingly we are revolting. The journalists who are supposed to have truth as their first mission have become nonstop liars decrying Trump as a liar himself. They’ve declared war on all beneath their station, those not in The Media who should not have much of a say in things.

The game is up & the Dirt People are waking. What comes next will be exponentially more people “fully woke.”

John Moore:

I am a constitutional conservative who expects to vote for Trump. But... I have been sorely let down by a lot of "conservatives" in the establishment. Many, such as National Review and The Weekly Standard writers, have been sabotaging Trump like petulant children who didn't get their way. Ironic. On the other hand, Hannity and Limbaugh, former doctrinaire conservatives, started backing Trump well before it was necessary, and as such have forefeited their claim to be principled.

I think the party leadership will have a hard time recovering, as a whole lot of us realize that they have been unmasked as go-along, get-along Washington types.

This is a disaster for the party, but these leaders have asked for it. The Congress has done little to really thwart Obama. They have simply not done what they were elected to do.

John Moore:

A whole lot of us are so shackled, but we didn't do it. I voted for Cruz. Most Republicans voted for people other than Trump.

But... the Trump phenomena shows that we were out of touch. The success of his populist appeal shows that too many people were left out by both parties - treated as the "deplorables" by all.

Also, the downsides of globalism have been made apparent. In the US, the beneficiaries of more recent globalism are fewer and fewer people. Sure, trinkets are cheaper, but when folks lose jobs, that doesn't matter. Sure, Apple is soaring, but a lot of people cannot afford their Chinese made products any more.

Free trade theory is probably right - that it results in a global increase in economic goods. But... the downside is that many people in developed countries end up impoverished due to the competition in that system. I think it has gone too far, and the populism shows that a whole lot of Americans agree.

mx:

My point is that, right now in 2016, white supremacists seem to be more emboldened and more out in the open than they were even a few years ago, and that seeing someone cite these individuals as models for new leaders today is frankly scary to me.

mx:

The funny thing is that Trump tells the story of the snake at his events all the darn time. I wonder if he knows that he, Donald Trump, is the snake in the story, but his supporters certainly don't. Time and time again he promises great things, people pick him up and he bites them, and he reveals himself to be exactly who we all knew he was all along.

TruthisaPeskyThing:

Yes, the irony is rich.

Actually the Native American fable is preceded by a European fable where the benefactor gives another animal a ride across the river before being betrayed by a bite. But I cannot remember the two animals in the European version.

TruthisaPeskyThing:

Your anger prevents you from seeing the check that Republicans have been on Obama. On other blogs, I have listed a dozen items on which Obama has been thwarted by the Republican majority in Congress, and that was off the top of my head.
Yes, I am outraged on the extra-legal moves that Obama has made to get around Congressional approval in apparent violation of the constitution, and it is beyond belief that the judicial system has not more soundly scolded Obama on these moves, but this development underscores what a disaster awaits the country if Hillary gets in and further stacks the courts with left wing stooges.

TruthisaPeskyThing:

As I read various blogs, I am dismayed at the presence of "white supremacists," and I think sometimes those postings actually come from left wingers who are trying to get their side riled up. Nevertheless, I think white supremacy feelings are on the rise because of the lies of the PC crowd and their insistence to avoid true issues. Obama has fed into issue. He called Cambridge police "stupid" while every black officer and every white officer at the scene agreed with the arrest decision. In essence, Obama is saying that blacks do not have to obey the same rules that whites to. When Obama said that Trayvon could be the son he never had, Obama is essentially saying that even in the best of circumstances, black males are going to be violent, drug-using thugs.
Such attitudes will give rise to more white supremacy feelings.

Bobbi Nye:

CapnRusty:

I googled "republicans thwart obama." Didn't come up with much. Boehner was going to approve Obama's sell-out to Iran until 5.000 Tea Party members showed up. Rubio got the insurance corridors stopped. Give me a link to your dozens.

We might have been better off if the Republicans had made no attempt at all, because without being able to blame "Republican obstructionism," Obama might well have gone way too far during his first term.

GoneWithTheWind:

The Democrats/left/liberals of today are not the same as when JFK was elected. There is a conspiracy to flood the country will legal and illegal immigrants who will vote for Democrats to get free stuff. The Democrats today are essentially anti-American and view this country as a resource to be wildly exploited until it is gone. They intend to crash the system, destroy the middle class and bring a Marxist/socialist government to power with them holding the reins of power. They don't care about the constitution, the citizens or our great Republic they are going to destroy us in the largest power grab in history.

firewire7:

Aesop. Scorpion. Frog.

The Scorpion and the Frog

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the
scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The
frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion
says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of
paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,
but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"

TruthisaPeskyThing:

Maybe you remember Obama's 2011 Son of Stimulus Package that would have spent another $500 billions to be paid with increased taxes later? That was thwarted.
How about the Obama's desire to increase taxes on $250,000 income by 8.8%. That would have hit small business entrepreneurs, and Republicans thwarted that.
Republicans also thwarted Obama's moves on certain immigration moves.
I must run now, but there are many more.

Bram:

You might have it backwards. Hillary could shoot a baby on stage and Democrats would make excuses for her.

Meanwhile, Trump has a gaggle of incompetent backstabbing pussies behind him. Seems obvious that Paul Ryan (spit) knew the locker room hit tape was coming. Ryan tried to take out Trump - but, he is just too incompetent and weak-willed to make it happen.